AETNA: U.S. Healthcare Founder Quits Insurer’s Board

      Leonard Abramson, founder of the managed care company U.S. Healthcare, which was purchased by Aetna in 1996, has resigned from Aetna's Board of Directors, the Wall Street Journal reports. The resignation is another sign of change for the company, which is trying desperately to stem the tide of troubles facing its Aetna U.S. Healthcare unit (6/7). In his resignation letter to Aetna CEO William Donaldson, Abramson cited "constraints of [his] current business schedule" as the reason for his departure. In recent weeks, many of Abramson's "hand-picked top management" from U.S. Healthcare have also left their positions at Aetna, as the company tries to "distance itself from the aggressive managed care practices that critics say U.S. Healthcare brought" after the merger (Levick, Hartford Courant, 6/7). However, in a written statement released yesterday, Donaldson hailed Abramson as a "managed care pioneer who founded and nurtured a great company" and who had been an "asset to Aetna as a board member" (Levick, Hartford Courant, 6/7).